GRECE – Avgi - Tracing households, people and meanings: ten years of research activity at the Neolithic settlement of Avgi, Kastoria, NW Greece. In the mid-sixth millennium BC, a new farming community was established within the social Neolithic environment of the Kastoria region, at a short distance from the modern village of Avgi, and about 10 km SW of Lake Orestida. The Neolithic settlement, that covers an area of 55-60 acres, was situated on an extended terrace with an average altitude of 740 m, in a hilly landscape with a dynamic network of rivers and streams, an abundance of clay materials, and rich vegetation made up of oak forests and riparian plant formations. Recent excavations (2002-2008) have revealed three distinct phases of occupation (Avgi I, II and III) dated to the Middle and mostly to the Late Neolithic period. Throughout the period that Neolithic Avgi was inhabited, which lasted approximately 1000 years, interesting changes occurred in the spatial organization of the site, building technology and material culture, as well as the social-symbolic practices. Phase Avgi I (second half of the sixth millennium BC) is characterized by the presence of free-standing buildings which were intentionally destroyed by fire at the end of their life-cycles, and large highly interactive open areas (‘yards’). During phase Avgi II (early fifth millennium BC), the residential area shifted and reorganized; the habitation traces comprise mostly of outdoor activity areas, as well as a burial area with cremations, ascribing a strong symbolic meaning to the site. The latest documented phase Avgi III (first half of the fifth millennium BC) introduces new forms in the organization of built space, new construction elements and building layouts. Some buildings are defined by the presence of ditches, while the whole habitation area is now enclosed by a system of ditches. Moreover, there is evidence for the structured deposition of materials in a series of small and larger pits within the settlement.

ROYAUME UNI – Stonea Camp hill fort - The site, near Wimblington, was the scene of some of the most important events surrounding the Iceni tribe and Romans in Fenland. Stephen Macaulay, senior project manager at Oxford Archaeology East said: “Stonea Camp is a wonderful site and one of the most important archaeological sites in East Anglia, if not Britain itself. “Indeed it is perhaps the first site in the whole of Britain which enters the historical, as well as archaeological record and people should take this opportunity to discover its secrets.” The fort formed part of the frontier of the Iceni tribe of Norfolk, who twice rose in revolt against the Roman invaders.

ROYAUME UNI – Windsor - Volunteer archaeologists sift through the earth at an archaeology dig at the Strong-Howard house in Windsor Tuesday afternoon. They found a button, bones, bottles, smoking pipes and a musket ball beneath the floor of an addition of the home. The house is under restoration. The floor of one of the additions had been pulled up, offering an opportunity for the Windsor Historical Society to find out what treasures lay in the soil under the floor boards. The two bottles that were found are thought to be from around 1850. The original house was built around 1758 by Windsor merchant John Strong. Nathaniel Howard, a West Indies trader who married into a wealthy East Windsor family, had the home from 1772 to 1837, according to the historical society.

ROYAUME UNI – Ilkley - A dig by archaeologists on the site of Ilkley’s Roman fort has cleared the path for church redevelopment plans – and revealed more of the town’s history. a report by contractor Archaeological Services WYAS has revealed late-Roman era pottery was found in the dig, suggesting the site was occupied in the final stages of the Roman period. Finds included a fragment from a jar from around the 1st century AD, pieces of greyware bowls and jars from the Antonine occupation of the site, and pottery sherds including a piece of a Huntcliff jar, dating to the 4th or 5th century and probably brought to the site from the Vale of Pickering. A previous dig in the 1960s did not find any evidence of this type of pottery, say the archaeologists. Archaeologists also believe further groundworks may reveal the positions of graves, and possible human remains. Other small finds discovered in the dig included pieces of medieval and post-medieval pottery, pieces of post-1750 clay tobacco pipes, iron nails, a fragment of an 18th-century wine bottle, animal bone and an oyster shell.